QuoteReplyTopic: I think its the end?? Posted: 11 August 2008 at 18:05

Hi Ganja

Following on from your support on Passports 1st grow: I flowered an Early Girl in Early July. I did 12/12 inside ( sucessfully) then put it outside - I took a chance on the weather and hoping it would not go back to veg growth.It's been in the sun when it's been sunny and in the greenhouse when its not. It has new growth - but not loads - small very green feathery leaves.

It was doing great until the last few days when i fear it is starting to rot. It has a very sickly sweet smell to it, feels very sticky and has mottled leaves. There are flowers there and lots of them but i am afarid i may have lost her. I have seen this before and it goes down hill very quickly.

What do i do? Leave it outside - where quite frankly the weather is dreadful. Inside the house - where its dry or greenhouse it - where its damp?? Do I Cut out any suspect areas ?

I just yesterday spotted two patches of mould on one of my Thais (actually a friend spotted them). I thought I had been paying close attention but obviously not close enough. It looked like one little leaf had died and gone mouldy and it had started to spread. The patches were small, both restricted to one small branch each. I cut them off and the plants are looking okay today.

What you say about the sickly smell worries me a bit, as the Thais have started to take on a smell like your description. Unfortunately I can't move mine, as they are in the ground, but I'd recommend you get yours somewhere dryer if you can, from my recent experience.

Now I'm just praying for dryish weather, as I'm sure you are. Good luck chillumpuffer.

If you're familiar with the water-hash process, you can make good hash from mouldy buds - the washing and screening process will either wash the spores through the screen or cause them to float at the top. of the washing container.

In the end, you get pure, contamination-free resin. The bags for making water hash might constitute a bit of an outlay, but they're worth owning if you grow and have an interest in hash.

Dry-screening mouldy bud is not a good idea if you want to avoid fungus spores.

I only have one plant - albeit a 5ft one. I take on board what you've said and I think I have seen the method on you tube ( is this done with ice?) Interestingly i am more of a hash smoker as a rule.

I can only assume this rot problem is pretty endemic to outdoor (or greenhouse) growing in this part of the world ( North England). The summer has been the worse i can remember - high humidity, high rainfall and feck all sun

As for your advice how can one stop this? I also grow tomatoes and a few Thai Aubergines in the greenhouse. Does this affect the overall humidity or is it better just to grow green only?

I am seriously considering not bothering next year as it's not the first time this has happened.

Thanks for all's advice and i hope nobody has to see the demise of such a once healthy girl

Well, there's fungus and there's fungus. But even in the wet and humid northern summer, it need not be a common outcome.

Things like powdery mildew or the various leaf-spot funguses are a problem, but they're not a disaster, as they can be controlled quite effectively with bio fungicides, bleach or (in the case of mildew) a light dusting of baking soda (upsets the pH balance enough to kill off mildew).

Botrytis (grey mould) is the real bastard. Other funguses consume already-decomposing plant matter, but botrytis actually attacks plant matter, causing it to rot and become a food source. It's much more invasive than the other types of fungus, and it can often be eating away at the centre of a bud with few external symptoms until it's too late. I've seen gorgeous, foot-long Jack Flash buds that looked a treat from the outside, which were filled with grey mould when broken open (these buds did go on to make the best hash I've tried, so it wasn't a total loss).

Sulphur is a good cure for most, if not all fungus, but it's not an element I'd want to introduce into the air when buds are developed beyond about the fourth week. Sulphur is usually distributed via the air, so is only really usable indoors or in the greenhouse.

Basic ways to avoid fungus:

1. Keep a very clean greenhouse, with as little dead plant matter about the place as possible. While weather conditions may be worse outside than in the greenhouse, the greenhouse is probably more likely cause fungus as it keep plants much warmer and more humid. Wet buds are a potential danger for fungus, but a warm, humid dead-air atmosphere is much worse.

2. Install an extractor fan for the greenhouse, venting out the top or even via concealed tube if neighbours are a problem (the longer the tube, the more powerful the fan must be). You could have the fan on a timer, or even attached to a cheap hygrostat that will detect humidity and turn on the fan when it gets too high. The fan will decrease the chance of fungus greatly, and if it's kept on during most of the day it will also also allow plants to grow faster by maintaining high levels of CO2 in the greenhouse.

3. Grow a mould-resistant, outdoor strain that's been bred for northern Europe. Thai weed is almost the polar opposite of this. Thai's open bud structure helps it resist fungus to some extent, but no other part of the plant is really equipped to deal with Euro weather conditions. Early Skunk, Early Pearl, Durban, Mexican Sativa, even Early Girl and Jamaican Pearl have good resistance to fungus.

I don't think other plants will increase the chance of fungus much, though they may be hiding places for bugs or errant spores that could re-infect plants after they're cleaned.

I know what you mean about the sun. never in the history of mankind has the UK never had a (bit of) summer, but yes this is the year. Last time i fired up the barbie was 5th June - IN SCOTLAND !!!

Mr Early Girl really has gone this time. Got home yesterday and all the flowers and heads have drooped - even though the soil is damp so i ruled out drought. The smell is most off putting - i have pulled off damp leaves and had it in the loft - by the velux to dry but as Jim Morrison sang " This is the end - beautiful friend"

My partner was more realistic - she said lets move to Spain or fire up a bowl of the blonde leb have had in my tin for a month or so .

Whoops, I think I got two different grow-reports mixed up, thinking that chillumpuffer was growing Thai.

Not trying to undermine/jinx your Thai, figment!

Not at all, Ganja! I had thought that to be the case, or that you had just meant it "incidentally". Always hungry for knowledge, so any comment appreciated, while obviously not wanting to thread-hijack!

Sorry to hear it continues for you chillumpuffer, the Leb sounds nice indeed! I do long for some nice hash every now and then. Shall have to make my own...

The MET Office point to a sea-change in UK weather around the end of next week, with drier conditions on the way. They have for a couple of weeks now been predicting a prolonged dry spell to start around this time. And as I keep mentioning (say something enough and it becomes the truth!), there is word that we may be in for an Indian Summer! I'll keep praying for it anyway!!

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